Ultra fluffy bakery-style cornbread muffins that are full of flavor. Ditch the box and make these instead!
That being said, I’m also a complete cornbread snob. I’ve tried ever boxed variety out there and nothing seemed to come even a little bit close to the super fluffy bread I fell in love with at Boston Market and The Fresh Market. I’ve been known to drive out of my way to stock up from either location just so I can get my CB fix. It’s that extreme.
Thankfully I can finally put an end to the madness!
Not the cornbread madness, of course, but the driving out of my way bit. I had a bake-a-thon in my kitchen and tested a dozen different measurements and ratios until I could happily faceplant into the muffins WITHOUT dunking it into hearty chili or slathering it in extra butter! That was the true test.
Mission accomplished.
Fluffy Bakery-Style Cornbread Muffins
so . . . how were they!?
Instead of the typical dense hunk-o-cornbread, these babies are fluff-ay! I’m so excited to FINALLY have a go-to cornbread recipe. It’s about freaking time, right!? I hope you love them too.
Pair them with chili, your favorite soup, or just snag a few for on-the-go snacking! They’re a great compliment to your fall comfort food or simply enjoy them all on their own. I hope y’all love these fluffy bakery-style cornbread muffins as much as we do!
Pumpkin spicing your face off right now? Try my crazy delicious Pumpkin Cornbread next!
Fluffy Bakery-Style Cornbread Muffins
Ultra fluffy bakery-style cornbread muffins that are full of flavor. Ditch the box and make these instead!
Ingredients
- 1 + 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup stoneground cornmeal (finely ground)
- 1.5 TBSP baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1 cup milk (I used a coconut-almond blend; any milk works!)
- 2 TBSP oil (olive, coconut, avocado)
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with an electric hand mixer.
- Add milk and oil and mix on low. Add two slightly beaten eggs to the mixture and whisk or lightly beat to incorporate.
- Slowly add the cornmeal mixture in; mixing the two together with a fork until combined. The batter should be slightly airy and sticky.
- Spoon into a greased muffin tin and bake for 18-20 minutes at 350F, using a toothpick to test the center of the muffins for doneness.
- Allow to cool. Of course typical cooling protocol in this household involves munching a molten hot muffin while the others chill to room temperature. Enjoy! <3
Recipe Notes
Pair these fluffy cornbread muffins with chili, your favorite soup, or just snag a few for on-the-go snacking!
Nutrition facts below are an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. Simply adjust as needed! xo
Have a few left over?
Wrap ’em up and store in an airtight container for up to four days.
You can even freeze them!
hungry for more?
- Quick and Easy Homemade Cornbread <— another crowd pleaser!
- Cheesy Cheddar Bay Biscuit Copycat
- Apple Cinnamon Banana-Nut Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins
Vickie Griffin
Yes I wanted to try and make your cornbread muffins and brought the muffins down to 6 and it gave me some weird measurements that I do not know how to convert like 0.83 flour. I’m disappointed that I will not be able to try these or can you tell me what the measurements are for 6 muffins? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
Jenn
Hi Vickie! I’d have to test a halved version to be 100% but here is the halved recipe below. I hope this helps! If you do wind up just making the full amount, they freeze wonderfully! xoxo
For 6 muffins…
1/2 plus 1/3 cup all-purpose flour – this will be 103 grams by weight
1/3 cup stoneground cornmeal (finely ground)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 TBSP butter softened
1/2 cup milk
1 TBSP oil (olive, coconut, avocado)
1 large egg
Esther
Could I do oil instead of butter?
Jenn
Hey Esther! I haven’t tested it yet to see what it changes texturally about the muffins but it’s for sure worth experimenting! Let me know if you give it a try. They may be a bit denser I think?
Rhiannon Porter
Made these tonight. Turned out amazing. Everyone loved them ! Had to cook them a bit longer but still turned out great
Jenn
So glad you enjoyed them Rhiannon, thank you! Oven temperament has differed in literally every home we’ve lived in – it’s a thing! So glad you found the perfect cook time for yours. xoxo
Essiej3
I’ve made these twice now – first time exactly per recipe and they had a floury taste. Tried them again but used buttermilk instead to see if that took care of the flour taste – nope. I’ll adjust the flour/cornmeal ratio next. As far as texture, nice! Rise, beautiful!
KAREN INDINDOLI
From a somewhat amateur however I am very experimental with baking
So I had to try to make my son in law a fluffier, moisiter corn muffin. He does bake.
I used some buttermilk, a tiny bit of sour cream, I use both baking powder and baking soda and I beat the egg whites and add in like a chiffon cake recipe.
I think the baking tin has some impact as well as the amount you put in the tin.
All that said you all out there might try something like these changes. He loved the muffins, somdo my children!
Annike
Thank you for a great recipe!
Jenn
Glad you enjoyed it Annike, thank you!
Aleisha Morgan
Hello from England! I’ve used your recipe twice now to make these muffins (most recently with lentil chilli) and I love the. My next goal is to use the recipe for cornbread stuffing, I’ll let you know if it turns out well. Xx
Allie
Girl, THANK YOU. Yesterday I made some real disappointing cornmeal muffins (it’s possible). I’m making these for a bake sale, so I modified them a little. I added maple syrup, thus adjusting the milk and sugar, I also added bacon fat for the oil, and a bunch of bacon. They’re amazing.
Jenn
Thanks Allie! Ohmygosh I want one of those bacon-bomb cornbread muffins right now!
PR
Were light and fluffy,tasted just okay, used coarse corn meal as the recipe stated. Too gritty for me think fine cornmeal should be fine for better results.
Jenn
Hi PR! You for sure want to use fine or ultra-fine cornmeal. The cornmeal I linked to in the recipe is ultra-fine but I also make it with fine and it works great! Coarse will for sure be gritty.
Amanda Jones
I’m excited to try these! Do you think I could use a mini loaf pan? It has 8 mini loaves in it, so I’m assuming I would just increase the baking time by a few minutes?
Jenn
Sooooo excited! Yes I think it should work great in mini loaf form! I’d keep some toothpicks handy and start checking them around 25/30 minutes for doneness?
Magda
Trying these for the first time. They are in the oven…waiting! Can I use gluten-free flower?
Jenn
I’ve been meaning to tinker with a gluten-free version this Fall – let me know how it works! xo
Mary ann
Loved your recipe !thanks
Brooke Stuner
Can this recipe be doubled? Can use cupcake liners?
Jenn
Hi Brooke! You can absoutely use cupcake liners here!
I haven’t tried doubling it yet but it should work (to yield 24 muffins) as long as all the measurements are exact. If the batter sits too long the second batch may not rise very well, so I’d try to use a 24-cup muffin tin or two 12-cup muffin tins side by side on the center rack if possible. Let me know if you get a chance to try it!
Billy
Is the batter supposed to be lumpy?
Jenn
Hey Billy! It depends on the type of cornmeal used, but you basically want to mix until all the dry ingredients are wet and incorporated. No need to over-mix to get it super smooth, but you don’t want large chunks of dry ingredients if possible. Hope that helps! xo
Shawna
I ended up with a lumpy batter when I added cold milk to the butter and sugar mixture- it made the room temped butter get more solid. I microwaved the mixture on medium power until it was smooth, making sure not to overheat or the eggs would scramble when added. Next time I think I would just melt the butter ahead of time, especially when baking in a drafty house in the winter.
I would also add that you’re going to fill the muffin tins to the top…some recipes only fill partway, so I wasn’t sure, then needed to top off, which might affect the texture of the muffin. I’m not so picky, and making these for a preschool Thanksgiving Party, so I think they will forgive an imperfect muffin, so long as it tastes good.
Jenn
Hey Shawna! Room temperature ingredients are ideal for baking so in the future I’d for sure warm the milk up if you don’t want to set it out in advance with the butter to soften. I like the softened butter here vs melted for extra fluffy cornbread muffins which is why I don’t melt it for this particular recipe – but when I don’t care about the fluff factor melted butter will for sure work! For the full muffin cup step, the reasoning behind that is simply to create a muffin top on the cornbread muffins (a la bakery-style) but it’s not needed if you prefer to make smaller muffins – I’ve even had a few readers use mini muffin tins and just make little ones to share. xo
Kristen
These were great!!! I didn’t even execute properly, and they still came out fantastic. (I mindlessly threw my sugar in with the dry ingredients, so just ended up tossing everything in one bowl and mixing it up with a wood spoon. Also, I only had more coarse polenta on hand, and some masa harina, so I subbed those 50/50.) The recipe struck me as calling for a lot of baking powder — and I’ll admit to shaving a small amount off the called for quantity due to my skepticism — but maybe that’s part of the trick? They were very light and fluffy. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they came out despite my missteps.
Cheryl Lausch
These corn muffins were fantastic! I served them with BBQ Chicken and ribs and my guests gobbled them up! I’m making a batch today for my next round of guests…thinking to serve for breakfast with eggs and bacon!!
Pat Timney
Very yummy easy to make muffins. I used Gluten Free All Purpose flour and buttermilk. My cornmeal was very fine, so would use coarser next time. I would also add just a little more sugar. I dropped a teaspoon of raspberry jam in middle and muffins cracked on top a bit while cooking and you can see the jam a little, looks nice and appealing. Sometimes hard to make regular four recipes work for gluten-free, but this one did work well !!
Ann
These were so fluffy that they totally fell apart into crumbs. I discarded the
last 5.
Jane
Hello. Is the butter salted or unsalted?
Jenn
Hi Jane! We use unsalted!
Jane
Thank you so much for this recipe. It is my first time to bake and it was a success. It was fluffy and light and just right – not bland nor sweet. 🙂
I will try the next batch with whole corn kernels to add texture and crunch.
Patricia
How wonderful! Isn’t it amazing how many dishes are made better with cornbread on the side! Love these!
Amanda Finks
These are the best cornbread muffins! So much better that from a box!
Anita
This was very similar to one I made when the my kids were little. I reduced the sugar to two tsp and added Jalepenos. Shredded cheese might be good too. I reduced the sugar because we eat it with chilli. Would be great as is, for dessert with honey butter thanks
Ingrid
I tried your recipe, but used vegetable oil instead of olive oil, and for the milk I used buttermilk. They turned out very light and fluffy. Not too sweet, either. This one is a keeper – thanks!
Jenn
I’m happy you enjoyed the muffins Ingrid! Glad it also works with veggie oil and buttermilk – so good to know!
Mo
Definitely want to use veggie oil over any other. Did you use same amount of buttermilk that the milk in this recipe calls for?
Roni
I love this recipe. I used half brown sugar and half white granulated sugar. Also added a few drops of vanilla. Delicious!
Jenn
Love the brown sugar combo and the vanilla, Roni – thank you!
Sandi
These are amazing! Light fluffy and had a high rise! Thank you for sharing
Sam
Will it make a difference if I use bleached flour instead in the Cornbread recipe?
Jenn
Hey Sam! Standard AP flour will work great too! I’ve fallen in love with King Arthur’s Unbleached AP flour so I usually just note the type I use in all my recipes. You’re good to go either way! xo
Sues
Oh man, I love cornbread and remember getting it from Boston Market when I was a kid! These muffins look so perfectly fluffy… I might just eat the whole tin of them!
Emilie
We love having cornbread with our favorite soups and chili. Muffins are such a fun and easy way to serve it. Thanks for sharing!
Faye
Yummy
Tina
I think too much baking powder is giving these a funny taste to me :/
camille
I followed your directions and added 1 cup of cooked frozen corn. I also baked it at 350 for 35 minutes in a 7 x 11 pan for cornbread. The best cornbread ever. Moist, fluffy, the taste was amazing. Thank you!
Lyndsey
I’m a corn muffin snob and hate the box mix! Harris Teeter or Fresh Market corn muffins are my favorite! I’ll update on how they turn out!
Jenn
I hope you adore them Lyndsey!!
Mary Johnson
These were really good. Growing up in a large family, our mom always made cornbread from the recipe on the side of the round box (you know the one) and baked in a cast iron skillet; so I’m used to a little browning on top. These were pale when done so I’m thinking of upping the temp. next time. My husband says they’re perfect as is. We toasted some the next morning and had them with strawberry jam. They were excellent.
Jenn
Ohmgyosh I have GOT to try these with strawberry jam – that sounds so good Mary! Thank you for the sweet review 🙂
Laura
I’m trying this today! Sounds delicious and I’m also a cornbread maniac! Thanks for sharing!!
Jenn
Yay!!! Hope you LOVE them Laura! 🙂
Susan
I made corn muffins from scratch (not the recipe above) using Quaker cornmeal, and they came out so gritty and dry and crumbly, it makes me think that maybe I should be using extra-fine cornmeal? I’m not sure what the texture is of the stone-ground cornmeal that you specify, since I’ve never bought it. I buy Quaker and use that to make polenta. I know the ratio that I used, 1:1 four and cornmeal was partially responsible. But maybe the cornmeal was just too coarse?
Jenn
Hey Susan! The raito of cornmeal to flour also plays a huge part in muffin recipes I think. The higher the cornmeal to flour ratio the more crumbly and dry the muffins get without tons of butter to counteract the effect. If you’d like to try it with a finer cornmeal, you can pour regular cornmeal in a food processor and process it until it’s finer if you’d like? I do this with oats when I’m blending them into veggie burgers and pancakes 🙂
I’ve had numerous readers and friends love the recipe above to do let me know if you get a chance to try it! Happy baking! xoxo
Jenni Giesler
These are soooo good! This has become my go-to cornbread recipe! I have been looking for a Boston Market-esque recipe for a long time and every other recipe I’ve found uses cake mix. I love the simplicity of your ingredients! 🙂
Jenn
Jenni you just made my day, thank you! So beyond honored it’s now your go-to — we love this recipe like woah! xoxo
Christie
Delicious! I was looking for an easy recipe for my daughter to make corn bread and thought muffins would be perfect! Easy to follow instructions and wonderful results! It is now my go to recipe for muffins! I will add some cheese and jalapeños sometime like I used to do in my regular cornbread.
Thank you!
Jenn
Thanks Christie! Jalapeños (and cheese! always cheese!) sound amazing right now!
Joy
We always buy the MB faux of BM muffins but they have proven to be a little heavy, probably from early baking and sitting in packaging. I have used the Jiffy/cakemix recipe but would like to avoid having to buy these products to make homemade muffins. will try these and see if my grand daughter approves as she is the corn muffin inspector and will not consume if any heavy consistency . will try these for a.m. school breakfast.
Jenn
Totally understandable, I’m the same way with my muffins. I hope the corn muffin inspector approves! 🙂 Happy baking, Joy!
Stephanie
A fluffy corn muffin is great for dinner, but I really enjoy one for breakfast and have been looking for that bakery-style recipe to keep from having to buy one to satisfy my fix. Two days ago, my last attempt wound up in the trash. They weren’t even good enough for bread crumbs or chili-dipping. I just found this recipe yesterday and tried it last night. I absolutely loved these muffins! I did alter by adding 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese and about 2 TBSP. of sour cream. Yummy! Thanks, Jenn!
Haley
Really yummy and fluffy! Next time I might reduce the sugar as they are a bit too sweet for my taste! Thanks for the recipe.
Louise
Hi I just made these last night, the first time I’ve ever made cornbread from scratch, and they were delicious! Living in Australia means it’s virtually impossible to buy a box of mix but now I don’t need to search thanks to you! So light w just the right texture and sweetness- can’t wait to try variations.
Moirrainefortruth
Well, I don’t have a printer at the moment so I was running back and forth to the screen to see the recipe and didn’t see that the sugar is creamed with the margarine or butter.
.
Well, let me tell you – try skipping that step just once and you may not cream them again fro this recipe 😉 I also bumped up the baking powder to two tablespoons – it’s my oven trust me.
.
I did put the margarine with the oil and sour raw milk – added the eggs – and it didn’t make one bit of difference. They came out at least as good as Jiffy Muffins of old.
.
The cooking time was short for me but hey, my cooking times are always longer, and that’s with a “new” oven.
.
Thanks for the recipe! It’s so versatile and amazingly easy.
sunni
Ok…so I was assigned the task of making Sunni’s FAMOUS homemade Cornbread..(normally Jiffy Mix).. for Thanksgiving day dinner to suit 18 people. But I figure if your gonna do something for somebody , my motto is always do it right the first time. So I doubled your recipe and poured it in a burnt pan cuz I wasn’t about to cart around 18-20 muffins. EVERYONE RAVED about this recipe!!! I was unable to bring any home for my own leftovers! Bravo girl!! And thank you for MY newest go to recipe for FLUFFY CORNBREAD..!! =)
sunni
umm..correction..”you’re” and “BUNDT pan”…sorry
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
Yes! I need to update the tags for it since there are a lot of them but here’s the link that singles out just the GF tagged recipes I’ve done so far! I’ll keep updating it! xoxo
https://peasandcrayons.com/search/label/gluten%20free
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
P read your comment and laughed. Our poor thumbs 😉 haha
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
I hear ya! Same here!!! I think I’m going ot try freezing half the batch — I heard CB freezes marvelously!
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
Yes! Lets! =) We can run away to somewhere tropical..
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
haha if you come cook for me =)
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
If you like jiffy you should love these! They have a similar flavor profile but a bit of extra buttery flavor and fluff! =)
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
I’ve learned over the years that proper cornbread is a frickin artform. Hopefully these rock your socks off. I ate three straight from the oven and rounded the accidental “meal” out with some carrots. I’m special.
Nancy R
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jenn! You have really nailed it with this recipe. I have tried several different recipes, which have mostly been failures. I have finally succeeded with yours. I live in Europe, thus the only ingredient slightly different is polenta instead of cornmeal, which is not available here. My daughter claims it tastes even better, haha.
You have now convinced me to have a look at your other recipes. Nancy
Jenn
I’m so glad you loved them Nancy!!! I hope you fall in love with every recipe you try! <3 Thanks for the sweet comment!
Meghan@CleanEatsFastFeets
I was waiting for this recipe. None to patiently I might add. 🙂
There once was a steak house downtown that made the best friggen corn bread and served it at the start of every meal. It was amazing, and it came out in it’s own little skillet. Sadly they closed and my cornbread days were no more…until now that is. Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to make these.
Chrystal M.
Growing up in the South I think I have become addicted to cornbread. Now that I am in the North, I look for ways to make it so my family can enjoy it too. I usually freeze my extras. I never thought about wrapping muffins individually and keeping them in a container together.
I’m stopping by from Heather’s site and sure glad I did. So many eats to go through! After checking out her WIAW and looking at all the great people involved, I might have to see if I can create a post worthy of sharing!
Tara Gantz Newman
Cornbread muffins are my sons FAVORITE. He has been looking for a recipe to make for Thanksgiving. I am going to pass this along to him (he’s 8) 🙂
Heather Powers
Cornbread the WORRRRRRLD!!! Too funny, I just posted my pumpkin cornbread recipe on Monday! Great minds!
Totally giggling over the molten hot muffin! Haha! And I’m ALL about some FLUFFAYness! Yum! I’m gonna have to try this sometime…and then head to Fresh Market so I can do a taste comparison! 😉
Sarah Pie
Awesome!! I love love love cornbread, I’m excited to GF these up and crossing my fingers they turn out as awesome as they look in the pictures 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
Amy @ Long Drive Journey
Yummm! I think I have ONLY tried Jiffy cornbread mix, so I’m sure this would be a major step up from that!
Alison @ Daily Moves and Groov
OMG!! I’m also a ha-yuge cornbread fan and I’ve actually been searching the web for some good recipes, but here you are, coming to the rescue with these babies! I love that they’re muffins too. I cannot wait to try these!
Jan @ Sprouts n Squats
Yum they do look so fluffy and delicious!! I need to give them a go 🙂
Sara Puckett
these look so good, I love cornbread but the only problem is im the only one in he house that likes it so I end up eating it all!
Nikki @ Road to Less Cake
Can I have a package of these to dunk in my soup please?
Brittany Leigh
Yum! Perfect time of year for corn bread! I love it with homemade chili
Liz Ford
Being raised in the south and all, cornbread is the way to my heart. And a fluffy cornbread … well, let’s just get married! haha. Can’t wait to give this a try. THANKS for slaving in the kitchen for us <3
Lauren
YES! I have been waiting for this forever. And I’m glad I’m not the only one with the weird thumbs which bend backwards. Everyone always makes fun of me because it’s like a double hitch-hiker move. Lol!
Christine
Hi Jenn, do you have a lookup for GF recipes on your site? I don’t see one so thought I’d check.
jillian
mmm cornbread is the BEST! xo jillian – cornflake dreams
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
Ohmygosh yes, I’m with you on that! I tried a few too and they were dense, dry disasters. Sometimes a little flour and butter are all you need for bakery magic 😉
Liziheartvegetables
Hah! I haven’t been ton Boston Market in FOREVER but they do have epic cornbread. Mm so fluffy. I tried a “healthy” cornbread recipe a couple of months ago and it was awful. Somethings are better if we don’t mess with them 😉 This recipe sounds delicious!
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